mcmillanm

I love loaches. I have kubotai, histrionic and striata at the moment and seriously considering a little team of chain loaches if I can fit them in and get some at a good price. They've got lots of personality. Corydoras are cute too although cN be quite shy, freezing if they notice you watching them LOL.

Hi, this happens to the fish in my baby tank (a 60 something litre Jebo) in a few platies and mollies now and again and I was wondering if anyone knew why. I lost all of my last batch of dalmatian Molly babies to this and have just noticed a platy with the same problem. He lopjs a bit stretched, is breathing a bit fast a not swimming around like the others. To me it sounds like either a deficiency in their water or maybe somehow the filter? I am hoping someone on here may know... Also, I did a 25% water change yesterday, its an established tank and other tank mates such as cories seem fine as they keep spawning. Thanks

I enjoyed reading about your chain loaches in your other thread. Do you think think a few of these guys will get on fine with some Sterbai, bronze and albino corydoras along with some platies and sword tails in my baby tank? I've also got WAY too many darn snails in this tank LOL but mainly love both corys and loaches. Fish are so addictive

Do you think I'm doing the right thing with Melafix/Primafix? I couldn't decide which would be more appropriate.

Hi, pH has been low for a while but have mainly been concerned with kH as I've been struggling to get it over 1. I've got oyster shell in 1 of the filters and been using a kH booster each week. I've just added another bag to the other filter and will add a third bag when I next clean the external filter. I think I'll do a salt bath each day for the next few days and hopefully she'll pick up! Thanks for your reply.

Ok, just did a 25% water change and added melafix and primafix to tank (not sure if this will help but figure it won't hurt.) am now giving her a salt bath (20gms aqu salt to 1 1/2 liters of water) for 10 minutes sO as to not effect my scaleless fish. She's gone pretty quiet in there after initially swimming around slightly on One side. I hope she's ok. Any other ideas anyone? Since my suspected columnaris outbreak and treatment fish have seemed happy but still flash off of surfaces. Any help appreciated!

No redness and no apparent change for better or worse today. pH 6.6-6.8 (currently adding more oyster shell grit to pH & kH prob, nitrates 0. Am about to do a 25% water change and will add a little salt, some melafix and some more peas - any other ideas? She did eat a bit this morning but has trouble getting food as it sinks. Thanks

Hi, I'll check tomorrow re redness. She didn't look any more bloated than normal, both girls have always been quite 'rounded' and she hasn't had babies for months so I don't think she's pregnant. I know a teaspoon of salt isn't much but I've rarely used much if any salt and they've been fine so far. I've got loaches, catfish and cories so am loath to use much salt. Thanks for your help, I'm soo hoping she will be ok when I see her tomorrow morning.

Hey, thanks for that - I love my kubotai, histrionic & striata loaches and would love to know more about them! Great stuff!

Hi again, Just when I thought everything in my tank was going great one of my gorgeous big dalmatian mollies are acting erratically. She is around 18 months old, one of two lovely big girls and until now been healthy, even when other fish have had probs, these two have been great. This afternoon however she has begun to swim with her head up, tail down mainly into the filter's current, but also in circles. Temp is fine and I did a 20% water change on Thursday. I have found the water in this tank to be too acidic and soft and have been using oyster grit and kh booster to raise it. Its a 180L tank and I think the 1 bag of oyster grit isn't enough so I bought more today. Since noticing her behaviour it sounds like swim bladder disease? so I've added a teaspoon of aquarium salt (dissolved in warm water), some melafix and primafix and some frozen peas with skin removed. Any ideas to help welcome as I've had these two lovely mollies from the start (14 or so months) and don't want to lose her. I used Furan 2 last month which seemed to help with fungal issues with my blackline FF and possible cuulimaris which occurred when water quality deteriorated with my fish being 'looked after' while I was away but all has been good since then. Thanks for any suggestions.

Hi, I thought I'd better get back to you all after all of the advice you kindly gave me. I found some Furan 2 on Trade me. (I can't believe Animates charges $40+ for it and it is $25 on Teade me LOL, it so pays to shop around!) anyway, I used it on my tank and fish seem better and my Flying Fox's fungus has also cleared up so all good!

Cheers, anyone know if Furan-2 is safe for loaches, catfish and fry and the best place to buy it?

Thanks, I can't really use salt with the loaches, corys and catfish from what I hear and I imagine I should try and treat the whole tank. Is Furan2 good for columaris, safe for loaches etc and is it available in Auckland? I'll go and lol at the other suggested site now. Most of my fish are fine though - is this normal? Thanks for your comments:)

Another couple of things - majority of fish fine including swordtails, loaches etc but some fish are shimmying off of objects too. Any ideas? Thanks

Hi, I've had a bit of a problem identifying what is wrong with some of my fish since returning from holiday to discover that the girl from the local pet shop who I paid to do water changes/cleaning did such a bad job that one of my filters had stopped due to clogging and the tank was green despite a UV filter being used. Anyways, I'll describe what is happening, what I've done so far and would like to know what you think. Firstly, I do 20% water changes twice a week so water parameters are now good. The water also tested as really soft and acidic 3 weeks ago but is now pH 6.8-7 with a water hardness of 4 which is hopefully still slowly rising due to an oyster shell bag in the filter. The fish which are having probs are: Danios - one can't keep upright while swimming about and one dead this morning. Quite a few fish - Danios, rasboras, platies, black neons seem to have a greyish film over their bodies and are a bit jittery. Neons - have a few white bubbly growths on either their fins or mouth. Blackline flying fox - a grey mouldy looking patch on his side. A few platies sucking near surface with top fin clamped and tail facing down. Loaches, pleco & corys seem fine. Fish are in a planted 180 rio tank. Temp was at 27-28 degrees until last week, now at 25. Have tried a few doses of acriflavine, some melafix, primafix and aquapet antibacterial drops. Also put fox, platies into a salt bath yesterday. Done lots of reading but can't decide what to use which will actually work without harming loaches and catfish. Any ideas appreciated!